But this time, even though the nine great powers had long plotted for war and already held the advantage in overall strength, their momentum only grew fiercer after their counterattack, and they began pressing ever closer to Soul-Suppressing Palace.
Yet Soul-Suppressing Palace had ruled the Dizhen Domain alone for far too long; its foundations ran far too deep!
Even though they had already fallen into a disadvantage in the number of Void Refinement cultivators, they had still planted hidden hands within many of the outer sects and factions.
Even many upper echelons within those sects knew nothing of these hidden hands. Soul-Suppressing Palace had secretly laid down defensive formations throughout the periphery.
When left unused, they remained concealed. Yet once activated, the sects' own grand protective formations became the foundations of those formations.
When they were suddenly unleashed, the counterattack of the nine great powers immediately suffered considerable casualties. At once, the pace and advance of their counterattack were stalled again and again.
What the nine great powers feared most, however, was Soul-Suppressing Palace's own grand protective formation. That had been laid down by a Body Integration cultivator.
They themselves knew perfectly well that even if they could fight their way to Soul-Suppressing Palace's very foundations, no one knew how much time it would take or how many people would have to die before they could break it.
The greatest use of having Xiong Tianba and the others act as moles within had actually been to destroy that grand protective formation. As for assassinating or ambushing other Void Refinement cultivators, that would not be easy.
For one thing, every Void Refinement cultivator possessed outrageously powerful trump cards. Killing one in a single blow was difficult; without a certain-kill setup, they might even be killed in return if they were careless.